The senior civil servant on the board of the National Children's Hospital has told the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee that he did nothing wrong by not telling cabinet ministers about the cost overruns associated with the project.

Government ministers are highly annoyed at having to sacrifice money from their departments to fund the cost escalation at the National Children’s Hospital, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has confirmed.

The Public Accounts Committee wants immediate clarity over any possible conflict of interest over firm PwC which not only advised health chiefs on the children's hospital, but also completed a review of the project.

A public grilling of the officials in charge of the crisis-hit national children's hospital project will be delayed until mid-May because an independent review of what happened will not be completed on time.

The Department of Public Expenditure's secretary general has been forced to apologise to a Dáil committee after he told officials before a crunch children's hospital costs meeting that the group's chairman "has to control the mob".

The head of the Department of Public Expenditure has been forced to apologise to a Dáil committee after being heard by the Irish Examiner telling officials before a crunch children's hospital costs grilling its chair "has to control the mob".

The decision by children's hospital officials to consider gagging those involved in the project from talking about cost overruns last August is "not a policy of Government", a senior minister has admitted.